i don't believe it adds a penny to the deficit and it shouldn't be a victim of deficit reduction when it has nothing to do with the current deficit. secondly, i understand the importance of medicaid to those who are young, single moms, the disabled, the elderly, those suffering from mental illness. medicaid is critically important, and we can't let that be devastated, particularly in the struggling economy when so many people are out of work or working at jobs without health insurance. and third, medicare. in 12 years, medicare is going to go bankrupt. it will be insolvent. we have to sit down and honestly deal with entitlement reform that saves the program, doesn't lose them to the paul ryan budget approach but saves the program in a fiscally responsible way. now, that's the first thing we should agree on. both sides have to come together and be prepared to give. the second thing is it takes both sides. what speaker boehner proved to us last week is if you try to do so-called plan b in the republican caucus, no hope. but if you take a measure to the floor of the house and invite demo